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THE New Year finds Britain's Patent Office in an unenviable position. The Government has told the office to cut its running costs by 20 per cent over five years, and staff now fear that its free advice and education services will be the latest casualties.

When the Patent Office moved from London to Newport it set up a Central Enquiry Unit, which anyone in Britain can phone for the price of a local call. The CEU needs 12 staff to cope with up to 3000, often lengthy, phone inquiries each week, as well as replying to 200 letters. The Patent Office also foots the bill for the extra cost on long-distance calls.

The future of local information schemes is also under threat. Hampshire County Council has been working with the Patent Office and local lawyers since September on a trial "patent clinic". Once a month, libraries in Southampton and Portsmouth ...

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